Loving The Darkness
by Trakz
Summary: After AT2,Croix and Jacqli/Mir have become lovers,and while Croix has to live with Luca going insane and then turning into a deranged stalker,Mir has some sinister "plans" for her and Croix's future... Mir/Croix,WILL be raised to M pretty quickly...
1. Chapter 1

_**-Loving The Da**r**kness-**_

_Story Summary:After AT2, Croix and Mir aka Jacqli have become lovers,and __while Croix has to live her obsession over him (Not that he minds..) as well as Luca's insanity,Mir has plans for the two of them,and marriage isn't the only thing she has in mind for them. Instead her plans are rather...sinister. Croix/Mir_.

**Author's Note:Basically a love story between Croix and Mir,but with some humor now and then,a few rather big twists**** (Mainly Mir's true plans for her and Croix) and Luca attempting to win back Croix.  
While there's some character death,Croix/Mir/Luca won't die,but I can't say the same for the others...**

**Anyways,since there isn't nearly any stories that pair Mir and Croix (Like 3 total,and all of them were too short) let alone many AT fics,and this is my first fanfic,I wanted to make a decent love story between my favorite video game couple,while introducing a completely new idea/twist or two to AT Fanfics,or rather twists that are rarely used in nearly all of the fics on this site. M for a reason,this story will contain/does contain violence and gore (ESPECIALLY when it get's to Mir's true plans...),MAYBE some rather strong and offensive language (I'll keep that to a minimum if possible however) and some sexual interactions since this is a rather mature and mostly experimental love story,so unless your one of the few mature teenagers that can handle stuff like this like me (Don't test this out on a story like this however),or your 17/18 years old and above,please don't read this story and then start using your newly discovered "colorful languages" at school or at home thinking there everyday words,because they are not and you will likely be grounded and/or expelled if your at school.**

**This isn't completely a love/humor story,and that will change VERY quickly once I get to or almost get to Mir's plans for her and Croix...**

**While this is my first fanfic,I tend to like criticism (Since I'm not above it myself),and if you must go all "Dramatic Reading" and the like (I myself do it for laughs if the story is written poorly enough),that's fine,but then at least tell me/give me ideas on how to improve and offer suggestions.  
If you just flame like a total idiot,you will be frozen by Luca's Song Magic,be obliterated by Lady Cloche's Replekia Song Magic,and Mir shall...okay,let's just say you won't even have a corpse once she's done with you. :P  
**

**I apologize for all the spacing and times the Enter/Return key was pressed, this website has a really REALLY nasty habit of deleting words that separates sentences sometimes after you saved the Document (And yes,that word is nearly always capitalized in the guides) and aren't working on it,(Which are a MAJOR PAIN to fix) unless you press Enter or Shift+Enter or a space after nearly every sentence,as to why it does this my theory is that it probably has something to do with Edit/Preview Document option possibly being based on Microsoft Word,which the Toolbar at the top of it being oddly close to MS Word's. (Hence why sometimes the sentences may seem rather long,why there's line breaks where it doesn't seem needed,and why some words are missing from sentences,all forcing me to make countless corrections...this useless and annoying "feature" basically forces me to do long sentences,maybe that's why many would-be Authors on give up or just abandon writing fanfics.)**

**One more thing:  
**

_In Italics=Croix's thoughts._

Italics AND Underlined or Just Underlined=Mir/Jacqli's thoughts.

_**Bold,Italics,AND Underlined,or Just Bold Italics=Luca's thoughts.**_

Note that sometimes the above 3 randomly work or don't work whenever this site chooses them to for some reason._ (Like above for example,stupid site is failing at correcting "errors" after clicking "Save")  
_

**Anyways enough with all that,and let us begin thy story...**

**CHAPTER ONE:Daily Life and Strange Events...  
**

_"Croix...isn't it beautiful?"_ A female voice called,sounding_ as if she was waiting to see a best friend's reaction,in this case probably him,to a present._

_ Croix began to move up as he had been sitting down on the ground,and the first thing he noticed was that much of the environment around him was rather blurry,though some parts of it that were rather close to him were not._

_Looking at the area around him,he realized that he seemed to__ be nearly at on top of__ a grassy peak overlooking a large and wonderful forest.  
_

_The skies were cloudy when he looked up,it must have been late at night._

_He could barely make out what seemed to be villages,covered with lights from their lanterns,candles,light bulbs,and streetlights and nearly full of people running about,as well as several ruins filled with what seemed to be rubble and several humanoid shapes he assumed to be explorers and archaeologists.  
The trees below were tall but only slightly blocked his line of vision,while the ones on the cliff he was at were rather small in comparison and were easily looked over._

_He saw a city in the distance...but it had an odd glow that he couldn't make out.  
_

_Something felt...odd about it all.  
Wait...there was something else in the distance,but he could only see part of it from where he was located due what little parts of the grassy cliff that was above him blocking all but the tiniest bits of his view of it._

_"Isn't it beautiful Croix?" A female voice whispered to him in a seductive tone._

_"Is what beautiful?" Croix responded,confused whether she meant the trees,the villages,the ruins,or something,as well as wondering who it was and where the voice was coming from.  
It seemed to be coming from all sides of him after he listened for another moment...  
_

_"You don't see it yet?Come over here then so you can see it my beloved Croix." the voice beckoned to him._

_A red path,almost holographic looking,appeared in front of him and lead to the very top of the peak.  
He followed it,hearing the voice plead for him to come close and closer._

_"Croix,everything you shall see here will soon belong just to us my love,you and I together shall have it all..."_

_"FOREVER!"_

_The last word was nearly screamed in a disturbingly familiar tone and was the last Croix heard before everything faded to white..._

_

* * *

_

"Has the Sleeping Beauty err...should I say the Sleeping Handsomeness awaken yet?"

As Croix's eyes slowly opened,he noticed a face,one with long black hair and purple eyes,with a playful grin on it.  
Startled seeing her face directly in front of him as soon as he woke up,Croix briefly jumped much to her amusement.

His "fiancee" Mir (Luca lost that title a long time ago,though she still likes Croix to the point of stalking him endlessly.),was crouched over him with her face lowered so it was hanging a few inches away from Croix's face. It then dawned upon Croix that both of them were naked.

"You look so cute when your surprised Croix."

She only acted like this to Croix,who she felt was the only person who actually cared for her. While Luca,Shun,Cloche and Croix were the only ones in their "Party" that could read Hymmnos,Croix was the only male she had seen who could sing in Hymmnos,even after living for at least 382 years.  
He was also the only male,besides Ayatane back when she was first created,that she loved.

Mir suddenly returned to her trademark emotionless/cynical expression that she always seemed to have.

"Your lucky you woke up at the right time.I was wondering how well a bullet or two from one of my Mac-10s over there would work on a human leg."

**Author's Note:YES,Mir/Jacqli has a pair of Mac-10s,she dual-wields them for her Spree Gunner costume.  
As for why they even exist in Ar Tonelico's universe,I don't know and I'm wondering that too,so ask the game devs...Now then,back to the story!  
**

On the bright side,Mir crafted some Song Magic that could bring him back to life...though the Song in question could only revive her or the one person she picked,in this case Croix.  
_So,am I going to live forever or rather always come back to life due to her abilities?  
_

"So Croix...ready for another round?" She asked,her expression changing back to slightly grinning again.

Croix briefly examined her body...  
Her legs were notably longer than his,and she was somewhat thin,and her...breasts were slightly above small.

"No thanks,my whole body hurts enough Mir...How about breakfast,after we get some clothes on?"

"Your no fun...anyways,how about we go out for breakfast this time Croix?"

"Sure...wait a second,isn't the food offered for breakfast at restaurants ALWAYS terrible?"

"True...but let's go anyway,never done had breakfast at a restaurant with you before." _  
_Then again,I don't think I've done it with anyone before...even Ayatane never Dived into me,and even though Croix was the first who Dived into,he got through my entire Cosmosphere...

"And how I do I know that you won't have some random psychotic rampage and start slaughtering people,and not getting chased by or killing any Knights sent to arrest us afterwards?" Croix asked half-concerned and half-sarcastic,referring to that being exactly what happened on some other dates...

"You don't know that,but don't worry Croix,I only attack you provided that you heavily ticked me off earlier in that given day." **_  
_**Normally I'd kill anyone who asked that,but Croix's different as usual. Besides,I could easily handle the entire Grand Bell,Sacred Army,and even Divine Army troops by myself alone,with Croix I could take on the entire world and win.

"Okay...now can you get off me so I can get dressed already?"

Mir's slight grin reverted back to her normal facial expression,and got off Croix before she opened up their closet,grabbing some clothes for two of them.

After putting on her black undergarments,she tossed some black underwear and socks to Croix,before handing him a black outfit that was extremely similar to his regular knight armor,without the armor part of it and being colored black. Mir put on a modified version of her regular outfit,and like Croix's,had the armor part removed and replaced with regular clothing materials and patterns,except her modified outfit now came with black shorts.

"Does everything you wear,ah who I am kidding,does everything you see have to be colored black Mir?" Croix commented,also referring to the fact that much of the furniture in and several walls in their mansion he had built for him and Mir with all the money he got from his adventures,was colored black,and the fact that it took a while to convince her not to make the entire exterior part of the mansion black since he feared that anyone nearby would think it was haunted or inhabited by "bad guys" or "evil people" and ostracize them as well as spread false rumors about them and their mansion.

"Yes,it's my favorite color since it expresses and matches my personality the best. Come on Croix,you know that..." Mir responded as she and Croix finished getting dressed.

Followed by a quick kiss,they headed outside through their black front door.

Their mansion was on top of a mostly secluded hill that was built next to a large forest on Pastafalia.  
_Man...that took far too much to convince them to finally get rid of some completely abandoned and useless buildings,and instead make a few forests and some tiny neighborhoods._

"I almost forgot,Mir,what about my stalker...err,Luca?" Before,he loved Luca...before he met Mir who changed everything.  
Even when they were enemies,they both saw something in each oth_er,and when sh_e had allowed Croix to Dive into her,they understood each other completely.

Luca was too conflicted between her different personalities who visibly conflicted with each other in her Cosmosphere,Lady Cloche was too hostile and confused as well as being all dominant (And when she admitted she loved him but then chained him like he was her pet because "It was the only way" in her Cosmosphere,it didn't help much),Cocona he never was able to Dive into,nor did he want to dive into an 11-year old that he considered his sister.  
But Mir...she was completely misunderstood,betrayed,abused,and hated by the world.  
Nobody even understood her outside personality that she used as a facade, until she met Croix,and it was the same for Croix:They all expected far too much of him and subconsciously tore him apart inside,Mir was the only one who didn't.

_Still...it pained me a lot to see the person I loved before Mir,a well-known,respected,kind girl,who I chose over Cloche and the Grand Bell even after she said she hated me,whose temporary death I was once mourned,that I worked hard to save from Gaea and bring back to life,as well as being one of the two Holy Maidens required to sing Metafalica,to be reduced to little more than a girl obsessed with me to the point of stalking me after it became clear to all that I loved Mir,with her always watching my every move,just waiting for a chance to be together with me again...It wasn't just me who was sad to see her like this,after she..changed like this..._

Her "Mother" Reisha,her best friend besides Croix,Amarie,Skycat,Lady Cloche,Cocona,Gen,Captain Leglius,Shun,her colleagues,her former boss,all her customers,Frelia aka the Goddess,and even Mir and Croix,and nearly all of those that knew her all felt sorry for her when she became little more than Croix's stalker. After she quit her job as a Dive Therapist,gave up being Skycat's teacher/master,took all of her belongings,and left without a word.

Reisha had the former members of Croix's "Party" come over to her house to help her find Luca,only for them to discover that Luca only left a long note at her home,reading_ "**I want to be with Croix Bartel...forever...forever...**" f_ollowed by the rest of the page and remaining 50 pages filled with that sentence repeated non-stop,with pages 30-40 being nearly scratched on in order to make the words...and the last 10 pages written in_...**her own blood**. _On the back of the last page was one last comment,reading_ **"I've been betrayed by the world,my friends,and even the one I love,Croix...he's the only thing that makes sense to me now...I want to be with him,he is all that matters to me..."**_

Reisha nearly lost her mind and went hysterical after that,and it took 8 months for her to calm down,but even then she still cried about it each day,with the rest of the party were disturbed beyond belief.

Luca had no way to support herself financially,medically,socially,or emotionally,aside from donations by her friends,sympathizers,what ever she found lying around,from stealing,and what disturbed people the most,what she took from those she brutally murdered,viewing them as getting in the way with her only goal.  
After Luca had slaughtered Croix's former squad who tried to defend a small town she attacked. She then subsequently destroyed the entire town in a fit of pure rage.  
After that,many now wanted her dead.

All Luca cared about now was Croix and surviving long enough until she was with him again,no matter what the cost. Being one of the two Holy Maidens,she could essentially keep her age the way it was now and forever,essentially granting her eternal life,at the same time Mir's powers would prevent both Croix and herself from aging,so all three of them would live nearly forever...

What people found the most interesting besides all that though,is that she learned to somehow communicate with the many monsters and animals in the world,and after she told her story to them,they became her own private army of sorts,doing whatever she commanded out of sympathy.

Aside from the animals and monsters,she barely talked to anyone at all,and even then,her "conversations" consisted only of angry threats to kill the person that dared talking to her or did not answer her questions satisfactorly,demanding to know where Croix was or where he was going to,demanding the person in question to give her everything they had and then killing the person whether that gave it to her or not,simply staring at the person talking to her without speaking or moving,simply breaking down into tears and walking away slowly,accepting any donated money,food,or equipment with an almost silent "Thanks" before walking away,or simply repeating her new favorite phrase non-stop for several minutes:

_"**I want to be with Croix Bartel...forever...forever...**"_

It wasn't an IPD (Infel Pira Dependent) infection,no the infection was essentially cured and gone for good in the entire world,this was heartbreak at it's worst.

Luca Trulyworth,was gone,replaced with this...shell,that followed Croix everyday,watched him endlessly with a pair of binoculars she took from a Knight she had slain,interrogating and then killing innocents and random people about where he was at or where was heading to,going on random rampages even more than Mir does,and did whatever she could do to be with her Croix,no matter how many lives she took or how many she ruined,she wanted nothing else but him.  
Croix was just...devastated,to see how his childhood friend had degraded to the point she was in now._  
_

Mir seemed to be generally uneasy about the question and perturbed about the memory,as was Croix,but she still answered with a slight hint of sadness for their former friend and partner.

"Just avoid her for now,and be kind to her Croix,she may be insane for all we know,but somewhere in there,she's still Luca Croix. If you can Croix,help her." _Mir would never show emotions to like to anyone else but me,she feels that I'm the only she can trust,just like Luca is right now..._

"How? Mir,she's nearly insane at this point..."

"Maybe a quick Dive to sort out the chaos that probably lurks in her mind?"

"But Mir...that's like.."

"I know,but I'm not entirely heartless,if it can bring her back to normal,then do it."

"What about all the people she's killed in her current state,and how many want her executed as a result?" ___  
Croix's bringing up a good point,Luca has been confirmed to have killed at least 78 people since she...changed,and I doubt society will forgive her... _

"Then after we "stabilize" her,we'll keep her hidden in our mansion and other places,at least until we can convince the authorities to let her go,if possible." _  
I just hope by "convince" she doesn't mean more killing..._

_"Well,how are we going to convince her to even get into a Dive Shop?"_

_"Uh...she's at the point where she'd kill herself if it meant just a hug from you Croix..."_

_"Okay,let's stop at that..._besides that's far more than enough pondering about it for now,we're simply going to eat breakfast. We don't need to worry about all this since that's all we're doing right now. Besides,she's probably hiding in either that bush over there or on top of that hill overlooking our house watching me,plus she probably heard everything we just said."

"I know...I just feel...sorry for her,and yes I know that's completely unlike me."

"Let's go then...uh where to then?"

"I was hoping you'd know Croix...since you lived in Pastafalia for almost your entire life!" Mir replied with a somewhat annoyed expression.

_This is going to be a long day..._

_You know that I can hear your thoughts,correct Croix?_

_What the?_

_Telepathy my love,your so close to me that we can talk and listen to each other through our minds..._

_**As can I Croix...**_

_Luca,is that you?_

_**I'm always there Croix always and forever...forever...forever...**_

_Luca,why? Why are you doing this to yourself?  
_

_**You took the only thing that matters to me,and that same thing is the only reason I haven't killed myself yet...**_

_I didn't take it from you! Croix went through Level 10 in your's,mine's,and Cloche's Cosmospheres,and he had a choice. I thought he was cute but stupid at first Luca,but he was the only person who even tried to understand me! He saw everything in me,all the horrible things I've done,and he still chose me over you,Cloche,Cocona,and Cynthia!_

_Cocona?Um...I'd rather go with even Cynthia than her,she's 11...the most I'd do with her is adopt her as my daughter with someone else...  
_

_**You still took him from me you 4 century-old emo hag!**  
_

"Mir,block her off somehow..."

"Already on it..."

_**Grr...I'll be back Croix...and I will be with you again someday...**_

"You sure we can "cure" her problems?"

"For the moment,I think we may have a chance." Mir extended her hand to Croix,who gladly accepted.

"So...my prince,where do you wish eat?"

"I heard of a fancy new restuarant that recently opened called the "Sporgant Diner" or something,wanna check it out my princess?"

"With pleasure my love." Mir whispered while kissing Croix again as they walked along the newly built forest trail.

In the far distance,Luca watched them.

**_I'll remember that day,when Croix talked to Mir and sang that song he made for her after she seduced him...that song...it was beautiful and full of true love,but this girl fooled him into singing it for her,and not for me...I want to him sing that song for me and then he'll be mine..._**

Croix and Mir's duet at the end of their long adventure was what made Luca finally snap. Despite everything she did for Croix,no matter how many times she hinted or directly told him he loved her,no matter how many times she let him into her Cosmosphere,no matter how much she talked with him at night,no matter how much she protected and helped him,Mir came along and with little effort,got Croix to love her even though Luca had been trying her entire life. Even Cynthia and Lady Cloche spent longer to show that they loved Croix than Mir ever did,and he still chose her.

_**The only reason I listened to that old fool Laude to sing Metafalica was because I wanted to create a land just for me and Croix...I created multiple lands,but two I had saved just for him,me,and the rest of our "Party"...**_  
_**Hmmm? Sounds like I got some company approaching,and a lot of them...I wonder what blood tastes like,maybe Croix will like it as a present since blood is the color of love,my love for him.**_  
_**I wonder how well this pistol I looted works as well..**_

Luca reloaded her pistol as she heard troops moving in the distance. An evil grin formed on her face, This was going to be fun...

* * *

**Okay,that was my first chapter for my first fanfic I've ever written,constructive criticism is welcome,and I WILL work and improve upon this story,also note that this won't have much more humor when it gets to Mir's plans and beyond,at which point basically the entire theme changes completely.  
**

**And because I like to see how terrible or good I can be at humor,here's an interesting conversation we had the other day,and yes I now it's WAY over the top...:**

**Croix:_Okay,that wasn't too bad for your frst fanfic...but your so cruel to people...  
_**

**_Me: I know._**

**_Luca:Forever...Forever...Forever...Forever..._**

**_Me:Will you shut up already?_**

**_Luca:No...No...No...No..._**

**_Me:This is going to get tiresome...do you have to repeat EVERYTHING now?  
_**

**_Luca:Yes I do...Yes I do...Yes I do...Yes I do...  
_**

**_Croix:And you just had to turn an awesome girl into some creepy psycho-stalker too..._**

**_Lady Cloche:So you think she's an "awesome girl",how rude!_**

**_Luca:This coming from someone who doesn't know how to take her own clothes off.._****_..This coming from someone who doesn't know how to take her own clothes off..._****_This coming from someone who doesn't know how to take her own clothes off..._****_This coming from someone who doesn't know how to take her own clothes off..._****_.  
_**

**_Me:Look Croix,it's your Fan Club!Now all you need is..._**

**_Cocona:COCONA WON'T DO IT!  
_**

**_Captain Leglius:Do you HAVE to say that stupid phrase non-stop in battles Cocona?_**

**_Croix:Mir,do something before non-party members join in..._**

**_Laude:Too late for that,now fear my stupid beard and staff!  
_**

**_Mir: Okay Author,you got 20 seconds to publish the next chapter before I kill you all..._**

**_Me:You know,that would bring a new meaning to the classic "And everbody died happily ever after,the end." right?_**

**_Luca:Kill them already...kill them already...kill them already...kill them already...  
_**

**_Mir:That also includes you,you stupid fool! *Begins singing Replekia*_**

**_Me:What is the meaning of Croix's dream? What will Luca do next? Will Croix and Mir find a restaurant that serves good food for breakfast? How does Mir know how to sing Replekia,and will she kill me with it? How long will Luca keep repeating herself...oh wait,nevermind. What are Mir's plans for her and Croix?(They WILL catch you completely off-guard!) Why do I ask questions like this? Stay tuned for the next episode..._**

**_Chancellor Alfman:It's "next chapter" you idiot!_**

**_Mir:Killing everyone except me and Croix in 5...4...3...2..._**

**_Replekia/Satellite Laser Cannon Thingy:*Charged up fully and waiting to fire*  
_**

**_Mir:1...0...-1...-2...-3..._**

**_Cynthia:..._**

**_Mir:WHAT?I started at 5 and I said 20 seconds,so I have to count to -15 you stupid human!  
_**

**_Croix:Just fire it already please.  
_**

**_Mir:Fine my love,firing..._**

**_Replekia:*Fires and destroys the Ion Cannon*_**

**_GDI Soldier:Sir,we've lost our Ion Cannon sir!_**

**_Me:What does Command And Conquer have to do with anything?And Mir,your terrible at targeting..._**

**_Kane:Good question,but I must thank you Commander for taking out the Global Defense Iniative's Ion Cannon,without it the Brotherhood of Nod shall rise again!  
_**

**_Coops:ENEMY MAN WAY TO OUR FRONT VERY FAR TO THE WEST OF YOUR POSITION!_**

**_Croix:What the HELL does ARMA II and it's crappy text to speech voice acting have to do with anything?_**

**_Luca:Absolutely nothing...absolutely nothing...absolutely nothing...absolutely nothing..._**

**_Coops:I SAW A WEST MAN AND WEST TRUCK HERE JUST NOW!_**

**_Lady Cloche:I cannot tell who's more annoying.._**

**Coops: ALL,ENGAGE THAT ENEMY WOMAN AT 12 O'CLOCK!**

**Laude:Great,Razor Team from ARMA II is now attacking Lady Cloche...Could this get ANY stupider?**

**General Guba:Corporal,PLEASE,show some imagination!**

**Me:And why is the main antagonist of the original 3 Operation Flashpoint games here,didn't he die or something?**

**Q-Stein Private:Sneaky Protons!We have more firepower than them!**

**Croix:And why is there one of those talking Q-Stein Tanks from Seek And Destroy in here?**

**Earth Defense Force Soldier: The Ravager Mothership is closing in,Storm 1 take it out!  
**

**Mir:Okay,NOW I am going to kill you all...FIRING!**

**Replekia:*Misses and destroys the Ravager Mothership instead...*  
**

**Earth Defense Force Soldier:IT'S STORM 1!THEY DID IT!EDF!EDF!EDF!EDF!EDF!**

**Mir:Okay,I'm just going to kill you all with my Mac-10s that somehow exist in this world...**

_**Me:Uh,I'm going to hurry up with the next chapter then before this gets any stupider...**_

**(If you got ALL of the references I just made without looking them up,you get a cooki_e...)_**_**  
**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**-Loving The Darkness-**_

**Woah...Several reviews,all positive,a favorite,plus a Story and Subscription,all for my first ever chapter for this site...**

**Sorry for the slow updates,been busy lately but don't worry,the longest without an update will be a month,I'm going to keep working on this story until it's finished. Just keep in mind the first chapter alone took 5 weeks to finish.  
While my personal policy of making sure each chapter has at least 5000 words may take a while,it largely prevents me from making crappy chapters,and the longer it is,the more my story-writing skills improve :)**

**Okay,you may have noticed some words seemingly out of place or missing in parts of my story. Some of it's my fault,but this site sometimes may try to "correct" sentences.  
For example I put "she's extremely powerful" saved it,and I noticed the next time I logged in it was changed to "her extremely powerful",so yeah,it gets annoying...and fast.**

**And yes,I know most of the characters are pretty OOC,that will change later on,not to mention I'm constantly editing and adding stuff to previous chapters,when I first "finished" it,my first ever chapter in my first ever fanfic (Which is this one...) was 3000 characters,and look how big the first chapter is now after some 25 edits and updates alone...  
**

**And yes,I know the 1st chapter ended a bit too "lovey-dovey",but I'll make sure that it won't happen very often in this fic.  
Feel somewhat guilty for making Luca into a psychopath,then again one of the main reasons I did so was because I wanted to show what emotional devastation and heartbreak can do to a person,and how guilt can linger in the hearts of those that feel bad for not helping or even contributing to their insanity...  
**

**Also,I apologize if random words seemed to be in italics when they shouldn't,sometimes I don't notice,like in the paragraph below this line...  
**

**As for the guns and the like in the fic,yes,AT2 has guns.  
Mir/Jacqli in her Cosmosphere mentions that the she runs sells guns,Chester attempts to shoot Chancellor Alfman during one of Phase One's cutscenes but misses despite being at point-blank range followed by poor Chester being sent flying across the courtyard by Alfman's shot,as well as Chester later attempting to shoot himself before Amaria stops him.(The said pistols in those cutscenes reminds me of the 10mm Pistol from Fallout 1 and 2).**_** One of Croix's standard attacks seems to also use some type of firea**_**rm that's attached to his spear,Smiley Girl appears to have a machinegun (Vaguely resembles the Combine's Pulse Rifle from Half-Life 2),Chancellor Alfman during a boss battle reveals that he has at least two miniguns and several other firearms hidden under his cape/coat thingy,and finally during a few cutscenes,the airships that fly around are shown to be shooting laser cannons.**** And while I already mentioned this,one of Jacqli/Mir's costumes has her wielding a pair of Mac-10s for some reason.**

**I edit the story frequently,the first chapter was originally over 3000 characters when I submitted it,and I've added a lot more to it since then.  
**

To the reviewers:

** Darkrow:Yeah,I went with Luca first,changed my mind,started a completely new save,and then went with Mir,then going back to Luca after I saw Mir's ending.(By the way,to get the Cocona Ending,the stupidest one in the game IMO,don't go past Level 5 in anyone's Cosmosphere.)  
The wording AND the POV is mostly a result from this site's tendency to erase words or sometimes sentences usually when there too close together,and that's my attempts to avoid it,though I discovered a workaround or two,and I'm either deleting the annoying bits or moving/editing them as I type this :D  
The 1 on 1 conversations with the characters saying each others names frequently I'm fixing it now,and it's now mostly fixed for Chapter 1. **

**Zecross:Thanks for the compliments dude :D  
In AT2 Luca seems to nearly depend upon Croix and during the story she does get pretty nasty a couple times,I wondered how hurt she'd be if Croix ditched her for a character such as Mir,in fact she does seem worried and stressed about it if you go with Mir,even remarking to Lady Cloche that "Since Croix's being all 'lovey-dovey with Jacqli,I'm alone now".  
Don't worry,because of school I've been updating more slowly,but lately I'm having more free time to work on this. Even if it seems I haven't updated in a while,I'll always be back to update it.  
**

**namelessfairy:Will do :)**

**Molenar CS:Thanks,and yeah Croix/Mir's my favorite as well,Mir is just a character that leaves a permanent mark in your mind.  
I was slightly tempted to do a lemon,but I decided against it because it'd give the appearance that this would be a lemon story,and it's going to be anything but...(MIGHT include one later,but that will be much further in the story if I even decide to do it.)**

**Also,When I get to Mir's plans,I just know a few people are going to hate me for what I have in mind...  
**

* * *

_**Chapter 2:Luca's Insanity...:**_

**"Captain Leglius to all recon patrols,any sign of the target yet?"  
**

**"This is Ravager Leader,that's a negative,this forest is pretty big...though any wildlife and all the monsters are running away as fast as they can from the area sir."  
**

**"She's definitely around here somewhere then...All units be advised,DO NOT capture her,she is far too dangerous to be held prisoner for long. Also,keep in mind that as a Holy Maiden,she's extremely powerful."**

**After some 60 "Roger that!"s,the soldier returned to their patrols.**

The Grand Bell had decided to hunt Luca down after she wiped out an entire platoon of Knights that were sent to arrest a group of criminals. Luca came in right of the middle of their struggle,left nobody else alive but her,killed off the reinforcements called in by both sides,and then murdered any nearby bystanders.

As for as the Grand Bell was concerned,the former Holy Maiden was now just an insane killing machine that needed to be stopped before she claimed more lives. After the end of their adventures,The Sacred and Divine Armies as well as various other military factions all merged with the Grand Bell,and formed the New Grand Bell headed by the New Council,which was composed of leaders,important figures such as Lady Cloche,and even several commoners. As a result,concerns that would have never reached the previous governments were now clearly heard and were responded to quickly.

These "newly heard" concerns happened to include Luca's rampages.

"She has to be around here somewhere troops,keep looking!"

Luca heard that order barked in the distance,and then noticed several moving figures in the distance. She quickly snuck into a nearby bush,and chose to sit still and hold her entire squad appeared out of the tree line,but quickly ran right past her. Several of the troops then decided to rest up ahead.

Luca slowly sneaked towards one of the resting Knights who stayed at the very back of his squad giving orders on his telecom,who's callsign appeared to be Ravager Leader judging from the telecom chatter.

**_These fools,they can't prevent me from getting what I want,I'm looking forward to see this squad leader's head explode...  
_**

"For a Squad Leader,you pay very poor attention to your surroundings."  
Luca pulled out her pistol and aimed it at his head.

"Huh?"  
He spun around quickly. A flash from a gun barrel was the last thing he saw.

His subordinates,after hearing the gunshot came running to investigate. Luca used her pistol to gun them all down in less than 20 seconds,the rounds tearing their bodies apart.

_**All their limbs,their organs,their blood...it's all red,the color of my love for Croix...guess I'm a natural markswoman too...   
**_

**"Ravager Leader,do you copy over? I say again,Ravager Leader do you copy?"**

**_How DARE they interrupt my thoughts about him...  
_** Luca thought while picking up the telecom that was attached to what was once the squad leader's arm for ease of communication.

**"Ah Captain Leglius,long time no see,or should I say hear?"**

**"Luca? Is that you?"**

**"Who else would it be?He he he..."**

**"Where is Ravager Squad?"**

Luca merely responded with regular laughter,not evil laughter,but with laughs you'd hear from her as if it were an everyday joke. **  
"There dead,I killed them all. Their corpses,blood,and body parts...scattered all over the place is simply beautiful...It's all colored red,just like my love for him..."**

**"What the hell happened to you Luca? Why are you doing all this?**

**"You know what happened to me,or should I say who happened to me Leglius..."**  
**"Luca,Jacqli didn't do anything to you..."  
"The only thing that mattered was taken away by that ancient and hideous Reyvateil. And Jacqli is just an alias,her real name is Mir and she's around 382 years old. "**

**"Listen Luca,Amarie,Lady Cloche,and even Croix want you to go back to normal,everybody does! Please Luca,we don't have to do this..."**  
**"The person who you all knew as Luca was killed by Mir,and is never coming back. She took the only thing that ever mattered from me."  
"Why is Croix the only thing that matters Luca? WHY?"  
"Nobody else understood me Leglius. Croix was the only person who even tried,and he even went through my entire Cosmosphere...but he chose her instead,if it wasn't for her I'd be with him now,she stole the person I loved ever since I was a little girl!"  
"He did that with both Lady Cloche and Mir too Luca,he understood you as much as he understood them."  
"I don't care. Even if he doesn't love me,I shall make him,and kill everyone who gets in my way!" **Luca practically screamed the last bit.**  
**

**"*Sigh*...You didn't need to all this to yourself Luca...All units,converge on Ravager Leader's telecom signal,that's where she's at!"** Regret and sadness was evident in Leglius' voice. There wasn't a single soldier or Reyvateil in the entire strike force that did not feel bad about doing this operation.

Reloading her pistol,Luca hid in a nearby bush as squad after squad approached. She quickly used some Song Magic that set them on fire. Several soldiers who weren't hit by the blast were killed by electricity flew out of her right hand.

More of them were approaching. Luca used Song Magic once again to bombard them with ice,killing at least 4 squads. They still didn't know that she was in the bush...

One of the luckier squads approached her unharmed. Camouflaged in the bush still,Luca emptied her pistol clip into the squad with no survivors. As she reloaded,three more squads moved in.  
Luca used Song Magic to summon Smiley Girl.  
"Aww...it's cute..." One of the troops commented.  
"It's waving at us too!" Said a Reyvateil accompanying the squad.  
"Wait...what's that it has in it's hands,is that a..."

The Knight did not get to finish his sentence as Smiley Girl pulled out her machine gun and blew them all to pieces.

**_This is literally too easy...combat with them lasts 40 seconds at most with no interesting events at all...hmmm more are still coming in,too many of them,time to test it out..._**

Luca called the animals and monsters of the forest using a song she had crafted by herself once.  
To them,she was their leader who was in need of urgent help. Luca ordered them to attack the rapidly advancing army of numerous but scattered Knights.  
Nothing could have prepared them for this. Growls,roars,and countless other animal noises filled the moments,followed by literally swarms of beasts simply swarmed the troops whose attempts to fight back and rally were all in vain.

The soldiers were in near complete panic. Entire platoons died in seconds,and the few survivors hid underneath or behind something as they watched their comrades die. The ones who tried to run simply led the beasts to either hiding survivors or other squads,resulting in all of their deaths. Many "heroic last stands" were attempted,only for the ones attempting them to be literally torn apart in seconds.

In a mere 4 minutes,78% of the strike force was dead.

Back at the Command Center,Captain Leglius was frustrated. The situation was hopeless, they had greatly underestimated Luca's abilities and ignored the rumors about her being able to control animals and monsters,and now they were paying the price for it.

Even if his troops managed to wipe out the hordes of beasts with or without reinforcements,by then Luca would have either gotten away or have easily slaughtered the exhausted and wounded survivors of the strike force,and deploying reinforcements would be sending his men and women to death or at the very least near total destruction.  
Furthermore,they were still located on Pastalia,and not just in it's regular forests,they were in the gigantic forests Croix had made with his Leaf and care shortly after the end of their adventure.

The very edges of these forests,while protected from pollution,still bordered on the regular parts of Pastafalia:The urban areas. Losing these troops here would mean less troops to defend the rest of the massive city,as well as less troops to hunt Luca down and to fight against other threats. Not to mention how many good soldiers and Reyvateils he lost in this operation,and how many families who'd be mourning over their lost loved ones.

**"All units,pull back immediately!This mission is being aborted,fall back to the city and get out of those forests!"**

Luca heard Leglius over the telecom she looted from Ravager Leader,and ordered the beasts not to pursue,the point of this ambush was to test various tactics out against her enemies,and all of them worked exceptionally well.  
**_They got the message...nothing can stop me from getting to him..._**

The hordes of creatures slowly dispersed after she told them to do so

while Luca grabbed equipment,supplies,and Leaf off of the dead troops while finishing off a handful of wounded an hour of searching their bodies.  
"Please help me...I don't wanna..." Luca heard a seriously wounder Knight on the ground say.  
"You don't want to live?Wish granted then." Luca pulled her pistol out and aimed it him.  
"No...WAIT!"  
"Okay."  
Luca waited one second,and fired. He moved no more.

"I never would have guessed that your eyes were blue...You see,one eye BLEW that way,and the other eye BLEW that way!" Luca said to herself while laughing maniacally.

She resumed her looting,and when she finished,she had more than she needed,probably enough supplies to last a good 9 months. The creatures had dispersed by now,so it was just her.

The forest was quiet and peaceful,if you ignored the corpses that is.  
Not a single animal or another person in sight,there wasn't even any birds chirping,the only noise was Luca's feet and the wind. Normally she'd complain that the wind was blowing too hard and nearly making her freeze,but instead she embraced the cold and enjoyed the freezing wind while the sun began to shine on her.  
Being cold and hot at the same time...it was a relaxing feeling,and the only feeling that still resembled happiness to her outside of Croix.

Luca sat down against a nearby tree trunk,and rested. She pulled a group photo out of her backpack.  
It was of their entire "Party" at the end of their adventure,she was standing right next to Croix...but so was Mir,and she noticed that she was closer to him than she was,not to mention she was giving a non-evil/sarcastic smile for once.  
Luca breathed a loud sigh as she remembered everything.

**_We were so happy...even if I had "competition" between Lady Cloche,at least we had a near equal chance and in a way,it was kinda fun...Then "Jacqli" came along,or should I say Mir did...  
When I was brought back to life the first thing I noticed was her standing next to Croix...my Croix! She was hostile,easily angered,what you could call "evil",and quiet. She barely said anything to anyone except him,and did very little chatting to the rest of us outside of complaints,sarcasm,and expressing her frustration of our "stupidity" to us._**

**_What did Croix see in her? She was so paranoid that she required Croix,me,and Leyka...no Lady Cloche dive into her all at once if Croix wanted in...and shortly after her joining the group,Croix talked to her every night,and dived into her more than me and Cloche combined.  
During our adventure,while we were in her Cosmosphere in which she completely controlled,she decided to turn it into some romance story between her and Croix! She temporarily erased our memories and filled them with ones she made up whenever we were in her Cosmosphere for the sake of her "play",though we'd all remember what happened during the dive upon getting back to reality. _**

**_What I hated the most upon remembering...is when in Mir's Cosmosphere,after they had a "date" she had Croix and her swim in the ocean while she wore a bikini. A wave came in that could have drowned her but Croix saved her. Croix told her that he loved her,and she said the same before being interrupted.  
She controlled her Cosmosphere,and she made that all happen herself. She wanted Croix to fall in love with her both in the story and in reality,and showed that scene on the beach right in front of me and Lady Cloche so that she could show that Croix liked her more than she liked us, She made him say the 3 words me,Lady Cloche,Cocona,and even Cynthia had been trying our entire lives to convince him to say in less than a week. It may have just been in her Cosmosphere,but Croix never once said those tree words to me or Cloche,yet there he was._**

**_Me and Cloche told Croix at separate times we felt lonely without him,and we both asked him to talk with us more. He didn't listen,that witch had already seduced him to ignore the two he actually felt feelings for.  
_**

**_After our adventure,I saw that Croix started walking off to somewhere,but he didn't say why or where.  
I quietly followed him to that spot...the same spot where Reisha took me after they took Leyka from my "family" and sang that children's song for me. Mir was waiting there when Croix walked up. Croix said that he loved her,but she was so stunned that she struggled to come up with a response. Then Croix sang that song to convince her that he loved her...even though he already said it twice in her Cosmosphere,and just seconds before in reality,not to mention he talked to her literally every night! She didn't need anything more to confirm all that! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE HE SANG THAT SONG TOWARDS!_**

**_Mir walked up and kissed him after they were done,and went all lovey-dovey and crap...She was about to go back to home lands with him,but then she changed her mind and wanted to stay with Croix not on Metafalica or her home lands,instead she wanted to stay with him in Metafalss...Croix mentioned that he bought a mansion just for the two of them,and Mir for the first time seemed genuinely happy. _**

**_I was going to confess my love to Croix again,this time though we wouldn't be interrupted,but he left before I could tell him. The only reason I went through all that was to be with him,and then some other Reyvateil,who's trademark quote is "I hate humans." and is nearly 400 years old took him away from me!_**

**_I watched the two make out once again,followed by Croix and her walking off into the night holding hands while my heart broke in two...No,my heart was destroyed in that instant,completely gone. The only thing that mattered to me,the only person who kept me going,the only person I could ever love,the man who saved my life several times,and the one who promised to always protect me,was seduced and stolen away from me! All my hopes and dreams were gone. ALL OF THEM! _**

**_I cried. Cried non-stop. Eventually,I tried to suppress it,but all that did was suppress my emotions. I felt empty,nothing was left. There was only one person who could save me..Croix. I didn't know what else to do. I wrote that 50 or so page note with that endless statement. I broke at least 6 pencils in the process,and none were left,so I used my own hands. I used my hands so much that they bled and I used my own to blood to keep writing. After that,I packed up all belongings,and left before Reisha got home. I hid the note,but just barely enough so that she'd find it rather quickly._**

**_I've been following him ever since,and doing what I can to survive. He is all I care about. Mir...she took him away...Mir...she destroyed my life...Mir...she ruined everything...MIR...MIR...SHE MUST DIE!_**

**_Enough...I'm getting too angered about this,I need to get some sleep..._**

Luca was tired,and quickly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

_**And here is once again my probably stupid attempts at humor...**_

**Croix:Your slow you know that?  
**

**Me:Yes I know that...**

**Luca:Can I shoot you for being for slow?...Can I shoot you for being slow?...Can I shoot you for being slow?...Can I shoot you for being slow?...**

**Me:How about a hell no?  
**

**Mir:You may want to hurry up Author,before...**

**Cocona:COCONA WON'T DO IT!**

**Mir:...Before more annoying video game characters get in here! **

**Navi: HEY LOOK LISTEN HEY LOOK LISTEN HEY LOOK LISTEN!**

**Me:Too late...**

**Shizuku:I wanna go home.A new first-person shooter is coming out next week!  
**

**Croix:Shizuku from Chaos Wars?Wonderful...**

**Burner Gang Member:**** YOU NICK MASON!  
**

**Mir:A Burner from Urban Chaos:Riot Response?His hockey mask is hideous...**

**Me:Uh...Let's get the next chapter going...FAST!**


End file.
